Tri-State Weather Causes Driving Nightmare

Tri-State roads were mostly dry during August, but recent rains and oil on the pavement have created a slippery surface. Wet pavement is being blamed for a wreck Tuesday morning on the Pennyrile south of Henderson.

Lt. Johnny Denton, from the Henderson Fire Department, explains what may have happened Tuesday morning, "Hit a pool of water and claims that he hydroplaned, spun the car and then whenever it got sideways, it took off rolling and he landed upside down." Luckily, the driver was not severely hurt.

Another driver, who also escaped injury, flipped his car on Boonville-New Harmony Road near St. Joe. Troopers say wet roads are partially to blame.

One way to avoid most accidents is simply to slow down, but what exactly happens when you hydroplane?

Hydroplaning occurs when your tire(s) lose contact with the pavement and you're literally slipping along the water. One way to avoid that is to have tires with good treads, which allow water to slip between the channels. Bald tires force the tires to skim on water, creating an ice-like effect.

Master Sgt. Todd Ringle, of the Indiana State Police, explains how to avoid hydroplaning, "There's a lot of people who travel US 41, for example, where the speed limit's 55, and they really think as long as they're driving the speed limit, they're not going to hydroplane. And that's not the case."

Speed isn't the only thing that can save you from having an accident. Ringle says simple things like having good windshield wipers and plenty of windshield wiper fluid can also prevent a wreck.

What do you do when all of your precautions fail and you find yourself hydroplaning?

"If you do lose control of your vehicle and the back end of your vehicle starts to go left or right, what you need to remember is to take your foot off the accelerator and steer towards the skid," explains Ringle.

Another important tip Sgt. Ringle suggests is to move your vehicle out of the roadway if you're involved in a wreck. A lot of the time, a vehicle that is stopped in the road will cause another accident to occur.